High-risk MSI-H stage II colon cancer: Treatment patterns and outcomes.
Authors: Patrick Fleming, Chunxia Chen, Dirk F. Moore, Howard S. Hochster, Salma K. Jabbour, Lyudmyla Derby Berim, Kristen Renee Spencer, Pat Gulhati, Kristen Donohue, Nell Maloney Patel, Patrick M Boland
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2022)

e15587 Background: For resected stage II MSI-high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer (CRC) without high-risk features (HRF), standard of care recommendation per NCCN guidelines is observation. For tumors with HRF, the prognostic significance and impact of adjuvant therapy remains uncertain. The NCDB was queried to assess outcomes. Methods: Adult patients with stage II MSI-H CRC, surgically resected between 2010 and 2017, were identified in the NCDB. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan Meier survival curves were generated to assess impact of HRF, clinical and demographic variables, and chemotherapy use on overall survival (OS). Results: 9634 patients with stage II MSI-H CRC who met criteria were identified. In multivariate analysis T4 tumor status, &lt; 12 lymph nodes (LN) examined, perineural invasion (PNI) and positive margins were associated with worse OS, as were older age and increased comorbidity index (CDCC). Poor differentiation and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) were not associated with OS. No OS difference was observed between T4a vs T4b tumors or based upon tumor sidedness, tumor size, or sex. Excluding poor differentiation (33%) and LVI (17%), HRFs were present in 26% of cases: 21% (n = 2033) had 1 HRF and 5% (n = 505) had &gt; 1 HRF. HRFs were associated with decreased 5-year OS. For 1 HRF OS was 66% (HR 1.48, p &lt; 0.0001) and for &gt; 1 HRF OS was 54% (HR 2.31, p &lt; .0001), compared to 77% with 0 HRFs. HRF presence was associated with increased chemotherapy use: 46% for &gt; 1 HRF, 26% for 1 HRF, and 8% with 0 HRFs. pT4 tumors (T4b &gt; T4a) and younger age were also associated with increased chemotherapy use. By age group, chemotherapy was utilized in 31% of those &lt; 50, 27% of those 51-60, 17% of those 61-70 and 6% of those &gt; 70 years old. In the overall population, chemotherapy administration was associated with improved OS on multivariate analysis compared with no treatment (N = 1344; HR 0.76, p &lt; 0.0001). 69% of patients received multi-agent chemotherapy. However, survival was similar between those receiving single-agent vs multi-agent chemotherapy (HR 1.2, p = 0.2016). In patients &lt; 60 years old, chemotherapy use was associated with decreased OS (HR 1.4, p = 0.0156). Conclusions: In this retrospective, uncontrolled large database survey, HRFs are associated with decreased OS in stage II MSI-H CRC. This data indicates that poor differentiation and LVI do not independently worsen outcomes, but that the presence of multiple HRFs bears relevance. Though chemotherapy was associated with improved OS, the association is reversed in the &lt; 60 year old population; this analysis cannot fully control for extent of disease and PS, among other factors. Chemotherapy should be judiciously administered in Stage II MSI-H CRC with HRFs. Immunotherapy trials are justified.[Table: see text]